“Hosanna to the Son of David; blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, the King of Israel: Hosanna in the highest.” Mt. 21:9
The official name of our celebration this Sunday is “Palm Sunday of the passion of Christ” (Dominica in palmis de passione Domini). It is dedicated to the commemoration and meditation of the suffering and death of Christ but leading up to Easter. According to Bernard Raas, SVD, in his book Liturgical Year, Palm Sunday is the grand opening of the Holy Week, commemorating the messianic entry of Jesus in Jerusalem and at the same time also recalling his passion. The liturgy of this day is a combination of joy and sorrow, glory and humility, recognition and rejection of Jesus.
We begin our celebration today with the blessing of palms and the procession to the altar praising Jesus, our Messiah and King. What we are doing is not mere imitation of the event that happened in Jerusalem two millennia ago but to show that we are always on a journey towards Jesus. We make it present today, realising the Jesus is always with us while we are on the way to Him. We proclaim the Gospel account of the Lord’s entrance into Jerusalem. We welcome Jesus and accept Him as our Saviour. Here, Jesus accepts the people’s acknowledgment of His messianic mission. There is no more secret and we celebrate with Jesus as we sing songs of praise.
The readings during the Mass for Palm Sunday show a well-balanced presentation of the incarnation, passion and glorification that comprise the mystery of Christ. The theme of the Suffering Servant in the first reading perfectly complements the passion narrative of the Gospel. The second reading on the other hand summarizes the whole life of Christ, from the incarnation to His resurrection and glory. We already know the life story of Christ. But every time it is proclaimed to us, especially during Palm Sunday, we are always moved and motivated to participate in His story. We may feel that Christ is revealing Himself to us anew and indeed there is something new that we can take.
As followers and believers, we ought to accept and declare that if Jesus’ way to glory was the way of suffering and death, we too, must follow His way. We have to express in concrete ways our commitment to work with Jesus in saving our world through self-sacrifice. We go home today carrying the blessed palms. May they be a constant reminder for us, throughout the year, that on this day, we proclaim to the world that Jesus is our Messiah and Saviour and we acknowledge that He is present in our lives. We are a people of hope. We are not defeated by problems and sufferings but with Christ, we rise again and keep moving forward.
Blessings,
Fr Gilbert Ramos
